In recent years, a large variety of modular prosthetic legs have been available to patients with an above knee amputation. These modular prosthetic legs have included a variety of lower leg pylons, prosthetic ankles and feet, and knee motion and gait control devices each adapted to the particular patient's needs. For instance, a lower leg prosthesis for an elderly patient will be different in its dynamic response from a lower leg prosthesis for a younger, more active patient. The various modular components used in the finished prosthesis can control such functions as heel strike, toe-off acceleration, mid-stance, swing-through, heel rise, and deceleration.
The weight of the finished prosthetic leg is a critical factor in selecting various components to be used in the prosthesis. For instance, some knee motion and gait control devices can be heavier than others, and some lower leg pylon or ankle motion devices also can weigh more than the others. As a result, some modular components that might be desirable to use in the finished prosthesis may not be used because they add too much weight to the final unit. A hydraulic gait control unit and an ankle that twists are accessories that add weight to the finished unit. These and other desirable functions of the finished prosthesis may not be possible to use if the weight added by them makes the weight of the finished prosthesis intolerable to the patient.
In addition to weight, another factor that limits use of various prosthetic components is the design of certain structural components of the brace on which the functional components are mounted. If these structural members only accept a limited number of available functional components, then the versatility of the prosthesis suffers.
The present invention provides a modular frame for an above knee endoskeletal prosthesis which is more universal in accepting a wider variety of knee control units and/or lower leg pylons while also providing a sufficient weight reduction that allows use of certain other components providing important added functions to the finished prosthesis.